The citizen of Russia Piotr Ivanik, who is now jailed in Mink detention facility No1 in Valadarski street, was sentenced to death by the United Arab Emirates and is awaiting extradition.

On June 1, 2015, Belarus ratified the treaty with the UAE on extradition of persons, convicted under the criminal law and who should be brought to criminal liability. The treaty will come into legal force from the date of exchange of ratification instruments.

The lawyer of the HRC ViasnaPavel Sapielka explains what future expects the convict:

“Ivanik’s future is determined by the treaty on extradition between the Republic of Belarus and the United Arab Emirates.

However, for extradition, several terms should be fulfilled, including the following:

Extradition shall be carried out provided that the action for which extradition is requested is an offense under the law of both Parties.

Extradition is carried out in order to bring a person to liability for offenses punishable under the laws of both Parties by deprivation of liberty for a period of at least one year, or by a more severe penalty.

Extradition shall not be granted in if there are grounds to believe that the request has been made to prosecute or punish the person on account of that person's race, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, political opinions, sex or status, or that the person's position may be prejudiced for any of these reasons.

Also, extradition shall be refused in case the person whose extradition is requested is a national of the requested State or the person has been granted asylum in the territory of the requested State.

An important condition in the case of Piotr Ivanik is that the United Arab Emirate should ensure that after extradition, his criminal case will be retried, because the UAE has requested extradition in relation with the judgement rendered in absentia.

If the request of the UAE is fulfilled and Ivanik is extradited into the requesting State, the Emirates should fulfil their obligations and ensure a new trial and a new judgment.

If the treaty did not exist, in practice, it would be impossible to surrender him to the UAE, as surrender based on the principle of reciprocity is carried out for the person to serve the sentence of deprivation of liberty, with the guarantee that the person will be able to leave the territory of the requesting State after the person completes the sentence.”

We remind that in December 2011, the Islamic Court of the Emirate of Sharjah found Pyotr Ivanik, along with Alexey Yanchuk, guilty of murdering their business partner from Chelyabinsk Yauhen Khoprov. The crime was committed in 2009 in the United Arab Emirates. The sentence was handed down in absentia, since both defendants were on the wanted list.

For a long time, their whereabouts remained unknown. Later it was reported that Yanchuk had received a residence permit in Germany, while Ivanik has been recently found in jail in Belarus.